>> you will hear what this is such a fitting spot for tonight's foreign policy debate, a topic we did not hear much about on the campaign trail until maybe a month or so ago. a crisp florida breeze with the flags representing 80 or so home countries of international students here at the university. they will be part of the audience watching here, along with millions more tuning in at home. paula johnson says one of her biggest concerns revolve around the safety and security of israel. >> it is incumbent upon americans to protect israel. >> both president obama and mitt romney will hammer home their message that the other guy is worse for america. >> mitt romney has bolstered his

way into proving he can be commander in chief. the president has proved he can be commander-in-chief on the job. >> the president is all talk and no action. he talked about getting rid of al qaeda and terrorism, and we had that horrible disaster in libya. >> overall, the economy at home is still a hot issue for voters. >> it is hard to divorce domestic economic issues from foreign policy issues, whether gas prices or the trade deficit or the economic situation in greece or in spain. >> whether on the economy or some of these international issues, both candidates will be hoping to showcase their leadership abilities. new polls show the race getting tighter than ever. >> it should be interesting. you mentioned we will likely hear about the relationship between israel and iran and the

war in afghanistan. what other topics might they be discussing tonight? >> most of the topics relate to the middle east. there was one on the rise of china and some questions about the eurozone. the first segment is titled " america's role in the world." >> kerry cavanaugh has the latest from the debate over of maryland's second district congressional seat. >> here in baltimore county, a longtime democrat is fighting hard for his sixth term. state senator nancy jacobs, the republican, is trying to transition to the national office.

the debate site -- the democrats are best town councilman and county executive before winning election to congress in 2002. he and his wife and to trooper and live here in cockeysville. there -- he and his wife and two children live here in cockeysville. he was elected to state senate back in 1998. jacobs lives in harford county with her husband and has three grown daughters. she is running on a platform of fiscal conservatism. she is a very conservative counterpoint. they will compete for both here at warren elementary school. they will be the only ones participating in the debate. the libertarian candidate is upset because he is not been included in tonight's debate. it kicks off tonight at 7:00. we will be here to cover all

the back-and-forth and give you the highlights tonight on 11 news at 11:00. >> early voting starts this saturday here in maryland and continue through november 1. voters will have the final say on several very controversial ballot questions. sheldon dutes continues our commitment 2012 coverage, live downtown at the board of elections. >> there are seven questions on the ballot but three have gotten the most attention. those include in-state tuition for immigrants' children, expanded gambling, and same-sex marriage. >> starting this weekend, maryland voters will be able to cast their ballot for the next president of the united states and other elected offices. they will also start voting on a series of ballot questions that will change the future of the

state. >> we have never experienced this before. >> it explains the inundation of political ads we have seen on television about some of the more controversial ballot questions. >> this is more of a california type of situation where you have voters being asked whether or not to approve all sorts of issues that normally they lead to their legislators. >> to questions will require judges in prince george's and baltimore county to be members of the baltimore board. the third question will focus on when an elected official can be removed from office. the others are all the referenda that came about because of attrition. congressional redistricting lines are the focus of question 5. voters will have the final say when it comes to same-sex marriage here in maryland. the last question asked whether

you are in favor of expanded gambling across the state. >> we are seeing that society is being changed in ways they object to. this will motivate allow people to come out who ordinarily would not come out. >> election officials are urging every voter to know the issues before they get to the polls, to prevent long lines. >> they need to go over the sample ballot completely and take it with them to the poll. >> you can find no sample ballots online. another friendly reminder to pass along, absentee voting ends next tuesday. sheldon dutes, wbal-tv 11 news. >> you can find all the information on where to vote and when and how to vote in our new commitment 2012 mobile app.

certification commitment 2012 in europe mobile store unless a third and final debate right here on wbal-tv 11. nbc coverage begins at 9:00 and you can watch it on our mobile app. >> time is running out for homeowners to apply for the homestead tax benefit credit. the deadline is december 31. barry simms is live outside city hall with that story. >> it is a long time benefit. the homestead tax credit offered by the state of maryland. to get it for next year, you do have to apply. members of the baltimore city council want to make sure everyone knows about it could the council says 25,000 households in baltimore city are receiving the credit today, but have not applied to receive its in 2013. the council believes that many who have not applied our senior residents of the city and they

want to make sure that no one misses out. >> baltimore city limits the increase in your property taxes to know more than 4% from one year to the other. the average savings in baltimore city households that is in this program is $1060. >> we don't want people to miss out on that money, leaving that money on the table for the state or whoever else wants to claim it. >> it could mean a substantial increase in the mammoth tax is that you pay without the tax credit. >> again, the deadline is december 31. new year's eve 2012. you can only get applications from the state and all maryland

homeowners are eligible to apply. we want to give you the phone number so you can get the information. 1-866-650-8783. barry simms, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the national weather service released its results after surveying some storm damage in harford county. >> was that a tornado, we will have the details when we come back. >> the week ahead

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>> you may have seen bowling alleys that offer a full bar. neighbors of towson lanes bowling are concerned that may be a problem. nadia joins us with more on that story. >> the liquor board in baltimore county has decided to wait longer before they make that final decision. they are having campus leaders

meet with towson lanes on november 8 to come up with an agreement. on november 19, the board will make their final decision. some residents staunchly opposed towson lanes, it is regarded as a magnet for rowdy behavior for years. the concern is that it would overtly affect the committee by attracting more problems. managers of the bowling alley -- pitbull can bring their own drinks in and out. they say obtaining -- people can bring their own drinks in and out. residents that the parking lots have a history of unruly behavior through the years. the fact that it is so close to an elementary school, they think

granting a liquor license is a big mistake. >> it is a residential neighborhood and i don't think it is going to make things any better. i think it is going to make a bad situation worse. >> we don't believe the bowling center has contributed to the crime in the community. >> the board will make their final decision on november 19. >> after assessing storm damage in jarrettsville and harford county, the national weather service confirmed a tornado did touchdown last friday evening. the warning was issued for the area are around 6:30 in the evening. one home sustained minor damage and several trees were destroyed, but luckily, no one was hurt.

>> all the way from randallstown to jarrettsville in just about an hour. >> the water was coming so fast, it was pouring into my shoes. >> hopefully we will not have that kind of rain. there are some charts in the forecast later this week, but warmer temperatures, too. in the meantime, skies are clear and around the region. a warm front will make its way from the lakes of toward upstate new york and into new england, dragging some of the cloud cover across the middle atlantic. we will see some of that, but most of the rain will miss us to the north as well. 74 in columbus right now, 64 at state college. the warm front will push across the region and head for long england. today was warmer than normal.

we ended up six above the average. 65 is now the average for this time of year. 85 was the record high and 31 the record low. a little bit of cloud cover coming in from the mountains but by dawn we should see some high, thin clouds associated with the warm front, and that will prevent the temperatures from dropping too far. winds overnight nearly calm. memphis is up to 80 now, 77 in kansas city. with the cloud cover, showers mostly to the north, the main threat around here will be in southern pennsylvania. tomorrow and again on wednesday, the clouds win out the battle

with the sunshine. tomorrow, 73-78 degrees, warmer than normal with southwest winds at 5. there is some risk of a sprinkle. tomorrow, they water temperatures in the low 60's. and the western maryland ounce, this time of year can be quite chilly. highs in the '60s and almost 70 heading into the middle of the week. a mix of sun and clouds tomorrow with the spreckels potential in cecil county, then almost eight degrees on wednesday. ocean city will see partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures for a couple of days. two new systems in the tropics. this one may become a tropical storm.

sandy is expected to head toward jamaica and may be across the eastern part of cuba. we will have to keep an eye on the exact track of tropical storm sandy. >> a mix of sun and cloud than mild temperatures, 73 on thursday and friday, 74 with a shower possible late saturday, and scattered showers again on sunday as temperatures begin to cool off. >> it was not the way those ravens win into the bye week. a 30-point loss, and now they sit at 5-2. was a day when everything went wrong and seemingly nothing worked. the ravens are still all by their lonesome.

the mission in during the bye week is moving on. >> we had good meetings today, we had a very good walter. after tomorrow we will get our guys out of here. we need to rest and heal up a little bit. the buy week comes at a great time for us, and we are going to take advantage of it. >> the maryland football team has surpassed expectations already this year. what seems to be the theme this year, they simply cannot catch a break. the second maryland quarterback to tear his acl this season. there is no word who will get the nod on the next game at boston college this saturday.

there is nothing like a deciding postseason game in the baseball playoffs bid tonight, game 7 in san francisco. giants fans electric in san francisco last night. bottom of the second, off the right hand of cris carpenter. the saw him coming to score, 4- 0 early in this game and that would hold. the giants win game 6, 6-1. game 7 is tonight. the giants have their ace on the mound. tom is back with a look at the seven-day forecast, after this.

i've always been lucky. flew 37 bombing missions over germany. made it home every time. i'm lucky to have good friends who are all still around, and we're all lucky to have a friend named ben. ben's protected our medicare and veterans' benefits.

and he's helping my 13 grandchildren afford college. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i'm honored to approve this message. as a pastor, my support for question 6 is rooted in my belief that the government should treat everyone equally. i would not want someone denying my rights based upon their religious views, therefore i should not deny others based upon mine. it's about fairness. this law does not force any church to perform a same sex marriage if it's against their beliefs. and that's what this is about. protecting religious freedom and protecting all marylanders equally under the law. join me in voting for question 6.

>> of body discovered under the i-695 ridge. we will have the latest as that

forensic artist tries to identify the victims. we love more on the debate

>> i am just loving this indian summer. >> temperatures should only had about the mid-60's. many upper 70's for a couple of days. 76 tomorrow, it depends on how

much cloud cover we have in the area as the warm front passes by. the same thing on wednesday. then we cool off with an east wind bringing moisture off the ocean on thursday and friday. partly cloudy in the afternoon. it looks like the rain will come in over the weekend. showers are likely on sunday and temperatures getting back to near normal getting into the early part of next week. >> you cannot have the first indian summer until you have had the first frost, is that correct? >>. >> thanks for joining us. we will see you back here at 11:00. have a good evening. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

hundred and eighty million dollars for maryland schools. that's a lot of money. my classroom. games and a new casino for maryland. million more for education every year. the money goes where it's supposed to. it's the law. this is about our kids. this is about better schools.